PC security question [Archive]

KLang

12-23-05, 11:10 AM

If I remember, Norton 2006 asks if you want to turn it off on install. Do you recall if you had the install disable it? If not I would just let it ride.

It did ask if I wanted it to turn off the Microsoft security stuff, which was already off, and I replied yes. Apparently it does not know about the Microsoft Antispyware beta program as it is still running. I don't suppose it hurts having it on other then wasting some processor cycles.

Insomniac

12-23-05, 04:09 PM

How do you guys get so much spyware on your computers?

oddlycalm

12-23-05, 04:43 PM

Running multiple spyware myself. Pest Patrol, Zone Alarm's new scanner and Spybot. They all catch different things.

The irony with all the security software is the level of maintenance complication it adds as well as the challenge connecting to certain sites that insist on heavy active content.... see my thread below about the iTunes site which I still haven't figured out how to access without simply turning my firewall off completely. :shakehead

oc

KLang

12-23-05, 04:56 PM

How do you guys get so much spyware on your computers?

I don't. Never had any spyware or viruses which is why I run this stuff. My wife has received a few viruses via email attachments but so far Norton has always found them and prevented any infections.

dando

12-23-05, 05:06 PM

How do you guys get so much spyware on your computers?
pr0n. :gomer: ;)

-Kevin

Kiwifan

12-23-05, 07:00 PM

Ah, so now that makes sense. ;) Er, I have a teenage son so I blame him. :)

Seriously, I run Mailwasher Pro, ZA Suite, MS Anti Spyware, Pest Patrol, Trojanhunter, Spyware Guard as well as periodically run Spybot. Did a scan just this morning and came up clean! Yeah.

Rusty.

Insomniac

12-24-05, 08:56 AM

I don't. Never had any spyware or viruses which is why I run this stuff. My wife has received a few viruses via email attachments but so far Norton has always found them and prevented any infections.

Just for the fun of it, I ran ad-aware and installed a couple other things. It was a year since I last ran ad-aware (I did update it before running it again). In the end, they found two whole cookies.

I do get viruses as e-mail attachments all the time. I use MailWasher and just delete the messages before they are even downloaded. Haven't had Norton detect a virus in a very long time.

I think disabling 3rd party cookies and using Firefox greatly reduces most spyware. It's a little harder to install stuff through Firefox without you knowing.

Wabbit

12-24-05, 11:52 AM

How do you guys get so much spyware on your computers?

Most of us have spyware on our computers. It's called Windows.

KLang

12-24-05, 01:07 PM

Most of us have spyware on our computers. It's called Windows.

Spyware and a virus at the same time.

nrc

12-24-05, 10:44 PM

I think disabling 3rd party cookies and using Firefox greatly reduces most spyware. It's a little harder to install stuff through Firefox without you knowing.
An intelligent user running Firefox or Mozilla and anything but Outlook for email can avoid most viri and spyware. Just ask RaceGrrl. :)

Now as soon as a clueless user gets on a system and decides to go to this cool link their friends sent them and just accepts every dialog that pops up...

Ankf00

12-24-05, 11:43 PM

Now as soon as a clueless user gets on a system and decides to go to this cool link their friends sent them and just accepts every dialog that pops up...

Hey! Now you're talking bad about my clueless pops, and I won't be having any of that! :D

Insomniac

12-25-05, 12:38 PM

Most of us have spyware on our computers. It's called Windows.

I was ignoring the necessary evils. ;)

Cam

12-25-05, 12:40 PM

I was ignoring the necessary evils. ;)

Ah, but that is where you are wrong! There are alternatives! :thumbup:

Insomniac

12-25-05, 12:41 PM

An intelligent user running Firefox or Mozilla and anything but Outlook for email can avoid most viri and spyware. Just ask RaceGrrl. :)

Now as soon as a clueless user gets on a system and decides to go to this cool link their friends sent them and just accepts every dialog that pops up...

Do you mean Outlook Express? I use Outlook 2003 and it does a pretty good job (especially when combined with Norton). Some actually complain bcause it blocks certain attachments based on their extension. And the only way to disbale that is the registry.

Insomniac

12-25-05, 12:49 PM

Ah, but that is where you are wrong! There are alternatives! :thumbup:

Let me know what alternatives there are to Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project. :)

I work in a Windows world, and even things like Open Office don't have full compatibility with Microsoft Office that the rest of my co-workers use. Then you cause more problems. The only alternative I see is a Mac and Virtual PC. However, I don't see my company paying 2x more for a Mac. I won't. As nice as they are I would rather have a big LCD. :)

Insomniac

12-25-05, 12:50 PM

Hey! Now you're talking bad about my clueless pops, and I won't be having any of that! :D

My Dad is now the opposite. He'll call me and ask what to do about the Norton Virus Scan Dialog (just click Finish).

Cam

12-25-05, 01:01 PM

Let me know what alternatives there are to Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project. :)

I work in a Windows world, and even things like Open Office don't have full compatibility with Microsoft Office that the rest of my co-workers use. Then you cause more problems. The only alternative I see is a Mac and Virtual PC. However, I don't see my company paying 2x more for a Mac. I won't. As nice as they are I would rather have a big LCD.

MrProject will do most of what Project does. Dunno specifically what Visio does, but if it's from M$ I am sure it's just a knockoff of somebody elses idea! :laugh: If I really had to I am sure I could find an alternative. I use OOo exclusively at work and have never had a serious problem exchanging info between the two.

I can do more with the linux box I run 99% of the time than with winders. The only thing I am lacking is 100% Autocad compatibility. Autodesk. The second largest monopolist in the software biz! :shakehead But dont get me started on that! :mad:

Insomniac

12-25-05, 05:16 PM

MrProject will do most of what Project does. Dunno specifically what Visio does, but if it's from M$ I am sure it's just a knockoff of somebody elses idea! :laugh: If I really had to I am sure I could find an alternative. I use OOo exclusively at work and have never had a serious problem exchanging info between the two.

I can do more with the linux box I run 99% of the time than with winders. The only thing I am lacking is 100% Autocad compatibility. Autodesk. The second largest monopolist in the software biz! :shakehead But dont get me started on that! :mad:

Hmm, have to look into MrProject. Visio is a flowcharting type program among other things. This time, they didn't copy someone, they just bought the company. :)

Unfortunately, 99% isn't good enough. 99.99% isn't good enough. For example, I had to edit a PowerPoint presentation 10 minutes before a presentation because the customer wanted some changes. The only laptop that was handy had OpenOffice (my personal laptop). I could not hyperlink shapes (or easily create shapes for that matter, luckily I could copy and paste). In the end, we had to use our customer's laptop to make the changes and my company bought me Office. I don't know who can be bothered with those things. Your customer and clients don't care, they just want it/you to work. There are all kinds of little things, and they come up when you don't want them to come up.

Sure, it would've been fine if everyone was using OpenOffice, but that's not going to happen.

Cam

12-25-05, 11:11 PM

nrc

12-26-05, 03:09 PM

Insomniac

12-29-05, 10:56 AM

Open standards = GOOD!

Closed proprietary standards = EVIL!

New England went for open standards then all of a sudden out come the microshaft lobby..... Sorry. Lock in DOES NOT and WILL NOT work! :flame:

I don't disagree with you. Give the two options, Open is generally better. But, for the most part, like it or not, it's a Microsoft world.

Insomniac

12-29-05, 11:01 AM

The latest version of OpenOffice is extremely MS Office compatible. I've yet to get a document I couldn't open with it and I've had no complaints about documents that I've created with it.

Visio is a little harder nut to crack - which is why Microsoft bought them. For the flow charts and simple diagrams that most people us it for, Visio is overkill. The drawing tool in Word or Open Office is really quiet effective for simple diagrames. Visio is only really needed for complex, multi-layer diagrams.

What often happens is one person gets Visio for such a task and starts using it, then they start doing everything in Visio. Everyone who works with them has to get Visio to read their stupid little diagrams and soon you have entire departments buying it to create stupid little diagrams.

Microsoft provides a free Visio Viewer, so people who want to view them are not required to buy Visio. By simple, you must mean just a few objects. I can't imagine wasting that much time using a drawing tool. There are other alternatives to Visio, especially just for regular flow charts. Unfortunately, we don't decide what file formats to use, our customers do.

oddlycalm

12-29-05, 01:57 PM

I don't disagree with you. Give the two options, Open is generally better. But, for the most part, like it or not, it's a Microsoft world. For now, yes. Mac sales are growing at a rate 4x pc sales as many home users tire of the security drill required for windoze. Folks without easy access to tech support end up screwed. Intel and a bunch of other companies have investigated cheap tech support for all, but it's never happened.

Open architecture is running most web servers today. MS has largely missed the digital device explosion as well. How many of the best new PDA's or cell phones are running Windows CE? I also see India and China making a major difference. Neither society is interested in paying MS prices. MS won't go away, particularly on US office desktops, but I see their share of the world market declining radically from where it is now.

MS has chronically made the fatal business error of overpricing and underperforming. Their near monopoly and shear momentum saved them up till now, but I don't see that continuing unless they make radical adjustments. If Longhorn sells for $50 and meets expectations, it's a new day. Otherwise, most folks are real tired of their act. PC's have declined in price by a factor of 50 while MS prices remain unchanged, hence the OS & applications portion of the cost has risen precipitously to a level that seems unsustainable even in the most wealthy societies.

oc

dando

12-29-05, 02:13 PM

Open architecture is running most web servers today. MS has largely missed the digital device explosion as well. How many of the best new PDA's or cell phones are running Windows CE? I also see India and China making a major difference. Neither society is interested in paying MS prices. MS won't go away, particularly on US office desktops, but I see their share of the world market declining radically from where it is now.

Unfortunately Pocket PC has grabbed the majority of this PDA market (WinCE died long ago, BTW). Palm has failed miserably to break new ground, and the LifeDrive is too little too late. IMHO, PDAs will soon go the way of the dinosaur, as there will be a convergence between a simple PDA/iPod/phone devices. Niche markets will remain for standalone devices, but the majority of folks will converge @ some point. The phone wars are by no means finished. I anticipate them to wage on for several years before someone dominates the handset OS market. Also, recent comments by Balmer and Gates indicate that MSFT realizes the current Office approach will not be sustainable, so expect them to come out with an open office ala the bowser that broke NSCP. Just my $.02....I'm not a MSFT defender by any means, but I've seen them counted out many time before only to see them answer the bell yet again.

-Kevin

Insomniac

12-30-05, 04:42 PM

For now, yes. Mac sales are growing at a rate 4x pc sales as many home users tire of the security drill required for windoze. Folks without easy access to tech support end up screwed. Intel and a bunch of other companies have investigated cheap tech support for all, but it's never happened.

Open architecture is running most web servers today. MS has largely missed the digital device explosion as well. How many of the best new PDA's or cell phones are running Windows CE? I also see India and China making a major difference. Neither society is interested in paying MS prices. MS won't go away, particularly on US office desktops, but I see their share of the world market declining radically from where it is now.

MS has chronically made the fatal business error of overpricing and underperforming. Their near monopoly and shear momentum saved them up till now, but I don't see that continuing unless they make radical adjustments. If Longhorn sells for $50 and meets expectations, it's a new day. Otherwise, most folks are real tired of their act. PC's have declined in price by a factor of 50 while MS prices remain unchanged, hence the OS & applications portion of the cost has risen precipitously to a level that seems unsustainable even in the most wealthy societies.

oc

Mac sales may be up, but they aren't going to impact PC sales. Regardless of what numbers people put up.

Dell has free tech support and their PCs cost far less than Macs.

Linux/Apache do run most web servers, but the dents Microsoft have made with IIS are quite sizable.

I don't think China cares with their pathetic attempts to stop software piracy.

The OS costs have dropped. Maybe not off the shelf, but when purchased with a PC it is quite low.

You have a lot of hopes/expectations for Microsoft's failure, I doubt any really come through. Microsoft definitely has made many bad (and possibly illegal) moves, but Microsoft has alawys been and will be an engineering company. They aren't going away, there is too much talent and forward thinking there.

Cam

12-31-05, 09:17 AM

You have a lot of hopes/expectations for Microsoft's failure, I doubt any really come through. Microsoft definitely has made many bad (and possibly illegal) moves, but Microsoft has alawys been and will be an engineering company. They aren't going away, there is too much talent and forward thinking there.

Forward thinking????? BWWWAAHAHAHAHA!!!!! M$ have never had an original thought!!!! EVERYTHING they have done has been copied or bought! Sometimes illegally.... Innovate is just a word they found in the dictionary and they thought was cool! :rolleyes:

Joelski

12-31-05, 10:40 AM

Forward thinking????? BWWWAAHAHAHAHA!!!!! M$ have never had an original thought!!!! EVERYTHING they have done has been copied or bought! Sometimes illegally.... Innovate is just a word they found in the dictionary and they thought was cool! :rolleyes:

That's crap, Cam. EVERY company in the industry has had it's tit in a wringer for copying/stealing ideas/reverse engineering somebody else's idea. I believe it's called free enterprise, and the boundaries are not always well defined in the computing biz. Contrary to popular belief, Mr Jobs does not get his ideas from epiphanies, nor does it take 12 steps to type and print a sentence in MS word. Most computer problems happen because people f&$k with them, or install the latest greatest operating system on a trashed five year-old system. Expectations are too high among the people with the least skill/knowledge; i.e.: new users. I've used both architectures for years and they both "just work" as long as you don't exceed the intended capability of the system. That said, of course windows has more bugs and virii: it has to run on many more brands of hardware (a problem Apple doesn't have, yet wishes it did for increased market penetration), and the MS systems have outnumbered Macs by a huge factor for years. What smug sense of satisfaction would I get if I wrote a virus that affected only TI calculators? Come on, this argument is old and lame. Come up with a new reason! Do we not preach against lemmings here?

How bad are we as a society to hate one monstrous company, then defeat visionaries like Gasse in favor of two?

indyfan31

12-31-05, 01:00 PM

That's crap, Cam. EVERY company in the industry has had it's tit in a wringer for copying/stealing ideas/reverse engineering somebody else's idea. I believe it's called free enterprise, and the boundaries are not always well defined in the computing biz...

...Do we not preach against lemmings here?

Cam is closer to the truth than many would like to admit. The only major app that they actually "invented" was Word, everything else was either bought or stolen.
As far as lemmings are concerned, aren't they the ones that don't "Think Different?"

Joelski

12-31-05, 01:11 PM

Cam is closer to the truth than many would like to admit. The only major app that they actually "invented" was Word, everything else was either bought or stolen.
As far as lemmings are concerned, aren't they the ones that don't "Think Different?"

Yeah, but can ya prove it? Who can prove that any software written by Mac designers doesn't have code snitched from someplace else? See how that works? Both architectures have their strengths and weaknesses; shunning one or the other to be part of the "in" crowd is like riding a bicycle because cars are for stupid people.

People certainly are entitled to "Think Different. I beleive thinking universally will take me farther.

Cam

12-31-05, 01:48 PM

Cam is closer to the truth than many would like to admit. The only major app that they actually "invented" was Word, everything else was either bought or stolen.

And in Word, they saw the boatload of money WordPerfect were making decided that they needed to get in the act and took their growing monopoly position and stomped it out of existance! :thumdown:

Joelski

12-31-05, 02:00 PM

And in Word, they saw the boatload of money WordPerfect were making decided that they needed to get in the act and took their growing monopoly position and stomped it out of existance! :thumdown:

And it impacted your bottom line. I see. I guess you have a right to be so bitter. Me, I don't GAF as long as it works. WP evidently didn't want to try harder.

oddlycalm

12-31-05, 04:20 PM

You have a lot of hopes/expectations for Microsoft's failure, I doubt any really come through. Microsoft definitely has made many bad (and possibly illegal) moves, but Microsoft has alawys been and will be an engineering company. Time will tell, however I've never viewed MS as an engineering company any more than GM or Procter & Gamble. They do some engineering in the course of business, but I don't look to them for either original ideas or quality of execution.

I don't have an iron in the fire at the moment one way or the other. MS made me a lot of money for me at times, but I haven't owned it lately and don't expect to. As a customer I remained underwhelmed, however the bright side of that aspect is lifetime employment for many admins. :D

oc

dando

12-31-05, 06:39 PM

And in Word, they saw the boatload of money WordPerfect were making decided that they needed to get in the act and took their growing monopoly position and stomped it out of existance! :thumdown:
WordPerfect? How about Lotus 1-2-3, which was the defacto accounting standard for spreadsheets in the late 80s and early 90s?!? Hardly anyone can remember 1-2-3 these daze. It escapes me how the advantage MSFT had developing Office apps wasn't exposed as a part of the gov's anti-trust case against MSFT. Instead they focused on NSCP, which was a puny market for browsers compared to office applications. :shakehead

But hey, it's not MSFT's fault that Xerox couldn't get their GUI interface to work, or that IBM was myopic on the OS front, or that WordPerfect, Lotus, Novell, Borland, etc. couldn't get their s**** together and compete. Gates, Allen, and crew had enough vision to bring all of these elements together, make them work, and make a crapload of $$$. Whether you agree with their business practices or not, the results speak for themselves. Like WB, I'm not a fan boy either, but I do sleep better @ night knowing that we don't rely IIS and related 'tools' today, and I have beaucoup experience cleaning up plenty of MSFT messes.

-Kevin

Cam

12-31-05, 08:30 PM

WordPerfect? How about Lotus 1-2-3, which was the defacto accounting standard for spreadsheets in the late 80s and early 90s?!? Hardly anyone can remember 1-2-3 these daze. It escapes me how the advantage MSFT had developing Office apps wasn't exposed as a part of the gov's anti-trust case against MSFT. Instead they focused on NSCP, which was a puny market for browsers compared to office applications. :shakehead

But hey, it's not MSFT's fault that Xerox couldn't get their GUI interface to work, or that IBM was myopic on the OS front, or that WordPerfect, Lotus, Novell, Borland, etc. couldn't get their s**** together and compete. Gates, Allen, and crew had enough vision to bring all of these elements together, make them work, and make a crapload of $$$. Whether you agree with their business practices or not, the results speak for themselves. Like WB, I'm not a fan boy either, but I do sleep better @ night knowing that we don't rely IIS and related 'tools' today, and I have beaucoup experience cleaning up plenty of MSFT messes.

-Kevin

Yeah.. Didnt think of Lotus initially.....

Jeebuz! You should see the mess I am dealing with right now! Friends Compaq desktop..... Initial scan has 8500 infected files! Yes.... You heard that right..... Eighty Five Hundred! I quaranteened those and am doing a second run.... Its finding more! OH! And the only way I could get the AV to run was to boot to safe mode.

Secure my arse! :rolleyes:

Joelski

01-01-06, 01:57 AM

Yeah.. Didnt think of Lotus initially.....

Jeebuz! You should see the mess I am dealing with right now! Friends Compaq desktop..... Initial scan has 8500 infected files! Yes.... You heard that right..... Eighty Five Hundred! I quaranteened those and am doing a second run.... Its finding more! OH! And the only way I could get the AV to run was to boot to safe mode.

Secure my arse! :rolleyes:

1.) It's a Compaq: Nuff said.
2.) Musta been a piss-poor antivirus and not up to date nor maintenance scanned no matter what your friend says.
3.) You surf teh pr0n, eventually, you will get a virus.
4.) Go to your favorite software store and look at the aisles and aisles of Linux software; that's proportionately how many viruses are lurking for non-windows users.

Pick two from that list, but rule number one always holds true. Same for HP. Those things are frickin' doorstops. The AOL of hardware.

Cam

01-01-06, 10:23 AM

1.) It's a Compaq: Nuff said.
2.) Musta been a piss-poor antivirus and not up to date nor maintenance scanned no matter what your friend says.
3.) You surf teh pr0n, eventually, you will get a virus.
4.) Go to your favorite software store and look at the aisles and aisles of Linux software; that's proportionately how many viruses are lurking for non-windows users.

Pick two from that list, but rule number one always holds true. Same for HP. Those things are frickin' doorstops. The AOL of hardware.

1 word..... BearShare :shakehead

Joelski

01-01-06, 11:09 AM

1 word..... BearShare :shakehead

In medicine, stupidity is a co-morbid factor. The same holds true for computing (or rather, a lack of education). I'm sure the lecture was proportionate to an 8500 instance infestation. :cheers:

Insomniac

01-01-06, 11:34 AM

Insomniac

01-01-06, 11:42 AM

And in Word, they saw the boatload of money WordPerfect were making decided that they needed to get in the act and took their growing monopoly position and stomped it out of existance! :thumdown:

Yes and WordPerfect was first right? They copied another word processor and they copied a regular text editor and they copied the type writer and that copied hand writing. And then language after language.

There is also no way you can claim MS used their OS Monopoly (MS-DOS/Windows) to shut WordPerfect out. They have always sold MS Office as a separate product. By the time they started to bundle it cheaply on OEM computers, they already dominated the productivity suite market.

Insomniac

01-01-06, 11:48 AM

WordPerfect? How about Lotus 1-2-3, which was the defacto accounting standard for spreadsheets in the late 80s and early 90s?!? Hardly anyone can remember 1-2-3 these daze. It escapes me how the advantage MSFT had developing Office apps wasn't exposed as a part of the gov's anti-trust case against MSFT. Instead they focused on NSCP, which was a puny market for browsers compared to office applications. :shakehead

VisiCalc was first.

That is one thing that angers me the most. For a long time, software was treated like books, music, movies, etc. and given a copyright. It allowed people to improve other products. Then the USPTO started issuing patents for software and ideas. Now all the big companies (surprisingly Microsoft wasn't too good at this) have patents on so much stuff that is so far sweeping that it makes it so hard to develop or improve on something now without getting sued. It really makes it very hard for little companies (the big companies basically have agreements not to sue each other with their patent portfolios). The USPTO really screwed up the software industry.

Insomniac

01-01-06, 11:51 AM

Yeah.. Didnt think of Lotus initially.....

Jeebuz! You should see the mess I am dealing with right now! Friends Compaq desktop..... Initial scan has 8500 infected files! Yes.... You heard that right..... Eighty Five Hundred! I quaranteened those and am doing a second run.... Its finding more! OH! And the only way I could get the AV to run was to boot to safe mode.

Secure my arse! :rolleyes:

Why don't you install a copy of Red Hat on the PC and not install anti-virus software or pacth the system. See how secure it remains. Do you think the owner of that Compaq will be able to more easily manage that and keep it secure? How about a Mac? Sure there are less viruses, but if they can't be bothered to update/protect the Windows PC, why is the Mac going to be better?

Cam

01-01-06, 12:11 PM

Why don't you install a copy of Red Hat on the PC and not install anti-virus software or pacth the system. See how secure it remains. Do you think the owner of that Compaq will be able to more easily manage that and keep it secure? How about a Mac? Sure there are less viruses, but if they can't be bothered to update/protect the Windows PC, why is the Mac going to be better?

I would, except for the fact that he wants to put AutoCad on the machine.... Don't get me started on that road! :flame:

Cam

01-01-06, 12:37 PM

In medicine, stupidity is a co-morbid factor. The same holds true for computing (or rather, a lack of education). I'm sure the lecture was proportionate to an 8500 instance infestation. :cheers:

Teen son of my buddy.... Of course if I can ever stop this damn thing from replicating itself, passwords are being set up for each of them with very limited permissions for the younger! :D

TravelGal

01-01-06, 01:27 PM

Happy New Year, Cam. For the first time in 10 years (since I've owned computers), I got a Trojan and virus one right after the other yesterday. Obviously I hit an infected website. I was so shocked and stupid I didn't even know what to do when the notices flashed on the screen. Completely inexperienced!

First I put them all in the vault and deleted them. Or so I thought. But the screen saver turned to some black notice telling me my computer was infected and click HERE to find the best programs to use to clean it. Needless to say, I didn't do that. But I did turn it off so I could think for a bit. Probably a big mistake but ???

When I turned it on again, what seemed like all the same worm/trojan notices popped up. I'm using AVG. This time, I clicked "heal" and they all showed healed. I was not convinced so I ran the scan. It showed 14 items but it only corrected 12. It said I had to reboot to finish the process. Then I really didn't know what to do because what about the other 2?

I rebooted (2nd time from infestation) and it wouldn't load past the screen saver. Blue screen and screen saver. Now I'm cooked I guess. I turned it off and unplugged it from the router, which I had forgotten to do the first time.

I have two questions, hope they don't sound even more stupid.
1) This computer is on the same router system. It couldn't have gotten anything transferred some way could it?
2) Should I try to download a fix from this one to a disk and run it in safe mode on the infected one (assuming it will even start) or do you think I'd just ruin it further and should haul it to the repair shop on Tuesday?

Thanks in advance to anyone who's reading and would like to share an opinion.

TravelGal

Cam

01-01-06, 01:45 PM

I have two questions, hope they don't sound even more stupid.
1) This computer is on the same router system. It couldn't have gotten anything transferred some way could it?
2) Should I try to download a fix from this one to a disk and run it in safe mode on the infected one (assuming it will even start) or do you think I'd just ruin it further and should haul it to the repair shop on Tuesday?

Thanks in advance to anyone who's reading and would like to share an opinion.

TravelGal

1. Depends on what the Trojan/Virus is..... and how it propogates. If you think you got it from a web site, then probably not. But I certainly would not go back to try and find out!

2. Yes. Best bet is to d/l and put any detection proggy onto a memory stick and do the repair in safe mode....

Good luck! I am still chasing this one around! :shakehead

Joelski

01-01-06, 02:18 PM

I sampled that one myself a couple weeks ago. Running HiJackTHis! in safe mode barely enabled me to run GHost to restore a backup image! Nasty shizzola.

Cam

01-01-06, 02:28 PM

Sheesh! 130+ files still infected and AVG wont clean or quaranteen them..... Installed ClamAV (http://www.clamwin.com/) and it is finally clobbering what is left.... :mad:

Joelski

01-01-06, 04:36 PM

Sheesh! 130+ files still infected and AVG wont clean or quaranteen them..... Installed ClamAV (http://www.clamwin.com/) and it is finally clobbering what is left.... :mad:

Hey! The first one that works on Vista so far! Thanks Cam. :cheers:

Cam

01-01-06, 05:22 PM

Hey! The first one that works on Vista so far! Thanks Cam. :cheers:

Might wanna be careful there mate.... It's GPL'd opensource! ;) :D Vista may just reject it.

Joelski

01-01-06, 06:00 PM

Might wanna be careful there mate.... It's GPL'd opensource! ;) :D Vista may just reject it.

Working fine so far. I can't wait 'til we get far enough to start integrating NAV or even OneCare. Til then it's good to have ghost.

TravelGal

01-01-06, 06:38 PM

Sheesh! 130+ files still infected and AVG wont clean or quaranteen them..... Installed ClamAV (http://www.clamwin.com/) and it is finally clobbering what is left.... :mad:

See, that was my problem. AVG didn't clean or quarantine so I was scrwwwwwwed.

Consider that the two posts following the one I quoted above might as well have been in Hindustani from all I understand of them, would you suggest I try ClamAV or am I asking for more problems? Does this run on Windows or just Linux?

The error messages I copied said: worm LockskyJ; Trojan Horse Downloader Generic (3x) LUZ, NIP, NCR; Trojan Horse Generic (2x) MHS, LQV; Virus Klone; Virus Win32/Nsag

The kicker is that I have no idea which of the two (of the original 14) were left to propigate. I have no idea what will happen when I turn the thing back on either.

Cam

01-01-06, 06:59 PM

TravelGal

01-01-06, 07:32 PM

Yeah give ClamAV a try..... That link is to the Win version..... Take note that when I first ran it, the default setting was just to report an infected file, not quaranteen. So make sure you go into the Settings and change that. This damn Compaq is now functioning somewhat near where it should.

Do we need to add an "Ask the Geek" forum? :D

It would certainly be helpful to the ungeeks like me. :gomer:

I'm not COMPLETELY hopeless, however, because I eventually realized that it would work on Windows because the URL was Clam*win*.

I'll let you know. I'm not going to try it until Tuesday morning.

If this fails, do I have to do a clean install? I have back up disks but I've never needed to use them. I think I'll cross that bridge if we need to. I'll keep you posted.

If you want to do the geek forum stuff, you could start by recommending a better email than Outlook. I have my email run through my website so I have 4 "identities." Australia@, Info@, ML@ and Travel@ I need to continue that. I don't mind experimenting and learning new things (I push more buttons than a mother in law) but I'm afraid of really screwing things up.

My head hurts. I'm going to go have a scotch. (Really liked that thread)

Cam

01-01-06, 07:39 PM

If you want to do the geek forum stuff, you could start by recommending a better email than Outlook. I have my email run through my website so I have 4 "identities." Australia@, Info@, ML@ and Travel@ I need to continue that. I don't mind experimenting and learning new things (I push more buttons than a mother in law) but I'm afraid of really screwing things up.

Yeah Mozilla Thunderbird.... Spam filtering and everything... Goes hand in hand with Firefox.... You are using Firefox right?

Australia@ huh???? You specialize in those flights? We might have to have a little talk! :D

Kiwifan

01-01-06, 08:15 PM

Disclaimer: I am not computer literate and don't want to step on Cams toes as he seems to be helping you TG, but I hang out at www.broadbandreports.com and they have a very good faq. You will find plenty of work through steps to help you as well as links to all of the tools that you will need to clean up the PC.

faq (http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/8428)

Good luck,

Rusty.

PS, have you checked out the temps in Aus these last few days, Cam? There are some serious figures coming out of Melbourne and Sydney. :eek: 42 and 45 celsius!

Cam

01-01-06, 08:26 PM

PS, have you checked out the temps in Aus these last few days, Cam? There are some serious figures coming out of Melbourne and Sydney. :eek: 42 and 45 celsius!

Eastcoasters have no idea what hot is! ;) People in Melbourne are probably contemplating suicide!

mapguy

01-02-06, 10:14 PM

Say what you want about MS. Microsoft has the best PC game going. Flight Simulator 2004. Accept no substitutes. You bunch of nancy-boy, Starbucks sipping PS playa's...

:gomer:

racer2c

01-02-06, 10:17 PM

Say what you want about MS. Microsoft has the best PC game going. Flight Simulator 2004. Accept no substitutes. You bunch of nancy-boy, Starbucks sipping PS playa's...

:gomer:

I just got FS 2004 Century of Flight and love it!

If I recall correctly though, they bought the developer many years ago. :)

Insomniac

01-03-06, 12:34 PM

I would, except for the fact that he wants to put AutoCad on the machine.... Don't get me started on that road! :flame:

Do you think it's easy to develop software for multiple platforms? Unless it runs on the pig that is Java you're talking about dedicating people to either porting the software or multiple development teams. Why would the leaders in CAD software bother with any platform besides Windows? If you can afford their software, you can afford a copy of Windows.

TravelGal

01-04-06, 02:41 PM

"Lack of Progress" report.

In spite of all the good advice, I was not able to take care of the problems myself so I took the tower to the local PC Club from whence it came. Looks like I'd better not quit my day job.

Cam, anytime you want to write about Australia, feel free. I'm one of 120 agents in the entire U S of A that the government of Australia has designated "Premier" for 2006 and listed on Australia.com My listing will go up in about two weeks, I think.

Rusty, I looked at that site and, as it says near the bottom, "too much information." It was too much for me to figure out both the site and how to use it while looking for one answer. I'll be using it for several other things, however, so thanks for the link.

One good result was that I called Red Pawz and had a long talk with Max Eidswick. I wanted to know, if that box backs up your whole system, does it back up the virus also. He said it might but the next back up writes over it. Lots of other things but you're better off if you call them directly to find out all about it There is a sale now through Digital River. I know I see a Back Up Box in my future.

dando

01-04-06, 03:36 PM

PS, have you checked out the temps in Aus these last few days, Cam? There are some serious figures coming out of Melbourne and Sydney. :eek: 42 and 45 celsius!
112 F in Syndey, eh? And to think they had snow in Oz over the winter. :eek:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1676386,00.html

And a tropical storm cruising around in the @lantic in JANUARY. This is just absurd.

-Kevin

TravelGal

01-04-06, 04:12 PM

All weather is getting more extreme everywhere. It's the only rule of thumb that seems to still be true these days.

The fires in Australia are there every year. Throughout the outback, fire marshalls actually set fires to control the undergrowth and grasses. One year I was flying from Adelaide to Darwin and saw the line of fire stretching for miles. It's so scary and dangerous when it's near the cities though. Just as it is here in California. My heart goes out to the Syndeysiders.

end hijack/

TravelGal

01-06-06, 03:29 AM

Happy Ending:

After a day of work at the PC Club, my computer is back home, all cleeeeen and purty. The "explore shell" and the "task manager" were both corrupted along with a few other less important things by the virus cocktail I got so it took the tech several hours to get in, identify the culprits, and restore the necessary files.

Best $89 I ever spent. If you guys (not the geeks necessarily but regular users like me) don't check out PC Club, alas only here in the Western US, I think you're missing a good deal. They build their own, from the same parts everyone uses, their prices are competitive, but their service cannot be beat.

:D